The Energon Pub

Ok so I know the thing about clear nail polish, but for rattrap's rat foot, how do I add the nail polish? On the ball joint or in the foot? And how much should I use? Its going to be my first time doing this.

Just pop teh foot off, apply some on the balljoint, dont glop pounds of it on, let it sit for an hour or so, then pop the foot back on

One of the arms on my G1 grimlock is loose, is it okay to use nail polish as well, and where do I apply it on?

Clear nail polish is fine for any ball joint, just remember to put a thin coat on, if its still too loose then put on another coat, remember its easier to put more on than take it off.

Also you could try a thin water-like glue to tighten some joints you can't get to, just remember to keep moving the joint in all directions, till the glue is completely dry.

Let it sit for at least an hour in a dry (as in low humidity) area. Nail polish may dry on nails quickly, but on plastic, it seems to dry much slower.

Where would you put it on say non ball joints?

i use a matte clearcoat, but the nail polish is a great idea!

Eradicator wrote:Where would you put it on say non ball joints?

As I said in an earlier post you could try a thin water-like glue to tighten non ball joints (I've used one called Krazy Glue before, and it works well), try dripping it down where the joint is, then move the joint all around to spread the glue round, just remember to keep moving the joint till the glue has dried.

Anyone ever use this on 20th Anniversary Prime? I just bought a used one off ebay and it has some really loose feet. I'd like to fix this, but don't want to ruin it. How does this nail polish thing work to strenghten joints anyway? How does it work?

Well if its an acetone based nail polish, the chemical should function to slightly dissolve the surface of the plastic... thus, when it dries, the plastic is slightly roughened up, thus creating more friction in the joint. This is why you don't want to overdo it, which might cause paints and plastic to become quite fugly.

Non-acetone and glue solutions function a little differently, in that these work by adding a rough surface coating (upon drying) to the plastic thereby making the joints stiffer... not necessarily stronger. They are stiffer because you have put "gunk" into the joint, thereby making the joints harder to flex... hence the "stiffness"

Thank you Mineralblue, for that explanation.

So I went to WalGreens to try to find a non-acetone based nail polish, and stood there staring at the Manicure section for about ten minutes. The staff was unhelpful. There don't seem to be any markings on the front of the packages saying "non-acetone based". I looked at the ingredients of a bunch of them and they said "acetate", I assume that's not non-acteone based?

Basically, can anyone recommend a brand or product name to me? I feel like a fish out of water here. Never thought I'd buy nail polish except as a gift to a girl.

EDIT: I see now that it's non-acetone nail polish REMOVER that we're talking about here. I really have no clue when it comes to this stuff. I guess I'll try using that - it sounds preferable to corroding Prime's joints with acid. I'd rather add a little mass to the ball joint than dissolve part of it.

Amongst those who have tried both, which do you prefer?

I'd keep it simple and do the glue technique...you might even be effective with ordinary glue... it's cheap and easy and if it gets messy you can at least clean out the glue easily...

Thank you again Mineralblue. I guess I'm just afraid of putting Krazyglue in Prime's joints. I understand the idea of adding a small layer of mass to his joints to tighten things up, though. Maybe I could remove his feet (actually, I've alredy done this) add a very thin layer of glue, wait for it to fully dry, THEN stick his feet back on?